UConn WBB vs. Virginia, 11/19 at 7 pm

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I have some money bet (with my uncle) that says Ania Makurat will finally drain her first 3 tomorrow night on American soil, ridding her finally of the "0 for America" label Geno has hung on her. Despite that unique brand of Geno Tough Love, he is also starting her and praising her because he liked her 7 assists last game, he likes her rebounding, he likes the fact that she sometimes looks like a woman among girls, and likes that she clearly has a high basketball IQ in the mold of Diana Taurasi. Now she needs to drain a few 3s and stop making Alterique Gilbert look like the better 3 point shooter. Once one goes down, hopefully the dam will break. If and when that happens, this team will go to another level, even though they are not very deep and are, at the moment, a 6 woman team.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

That was a really good first half for UConn. They played a lot of girls, got good minutes from Irwin and Griffin off the bench, killed Virginia with back door layups (with Irwin triggering many of those plays), and Makurat made her first 3 pointer as I predicted! On top of that the defense looked pretty good, although Virginia is not known to be a great offensive team. UConn is actually looking more like a 7 girl team, if Irwin continues to give the quality of minutes she has played the last 2 games. She is playing like Makurat- focusing on facilitating the offense and moving without the ball.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

That was a really good game by the Lady Huskies. Consistent good ball movement the whole game. Solid production from the bench, highlighted by the career high 13 points and 6 boards and 5 assists from Irwin. UConn also got 10 points out of Makurat and another strong 17 point performance from Christyn Williams, who is exceptional taking it to the hole. What did you think of her driving laying in which she cupped the ball over the defender and off the glass? You don’t see shots like that often in the women’s game. That was a Dr. J type move!